


Plot bunny hutch

by 5Chaos_Babe3



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin being overprotective, Anakin freaking out, Clones Are People Too, Drabbles, Free to good home, I have no ability to write long stories, Minor Worldbuilding for the Jedi Order, Obi-Wan just wants Sith to leave him alone, Poor Obi-Wan, Sith-Bait Obi-Wan, Some Crack, Sometimes Meta, Unless otherwise noted, Unlike the drabbles themselves world building is consistent, but I have plot bunnies that demand long stories, just drop me a link if you do, non-linear, not connected unless otherwise indicated, why is that not a tag?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-09-27 19:36:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10042862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5Chaos_Babe3/pseuds/5Chaos_Babe3
Summary: Star Wars drabbles, bits that pretend they're part of something larger but won't share.Chapter One: Obi-Wan would like to stop being Sith Bait, kay, thanks.Chapter Two: A Jedi's perspective on the Republic and the clonesChapter Three: Anakin accidentally hacks certain Archives





	1. Sith-Bait

**Author's Note:**

> Just a reminder, if you want to follow up on a bunny, feel free, just remember to send me a link when you post please.

It started with a prank from Bruck Chun. Then it wasn’t enough that he couldn’t visit the Archives/Library without being stalked by Sith holocron, _actual Sith Force ghosts_ started following him around. Then he turned thirteen, was sent to Bandomeer, and encountered Xanatos. In between dodging Sith ghosts and a living Dark Jedi, he runs straight into his Grand-Master and Line Aunt. Obi-Wan isn’t sure why all of these Dark Side users are fascinated by him, but he would really rather they weren’t.

Anakin is horrified during the Clone Wars to realize his Master really is serious when he says that the number of Sith in his life has gone _down_ since the war started. With a suspicious history of interested beings, Anakin can’t help but be paranoid when he realizes how intently Chancellor Palpatine watches Obi-Wan.

Anakin started to hyperventilate in his head as he watched Palpatine watch his Master. The last time he’d seen a gaze that heated, Dooku had ended up duking it out with Ventress. Oh sweet Force, _his Master was not a piece of meat!_ He reached out an arm and snagged Cody.

“Do not let that man alone with Obi-Wan,” he hissed.

“Sir?” the startled clone looked at the Jedi in concern.

Oh, this wasn’t Cody. Not important. “Do not let the Chancellor be alone with Obi-Wan! _I do not trust that look!_ Nothing good comes from that look! He looks like he wants to eat him!"


	2. Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The perspective of a Jedi on the Republic and clones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally this was part of several different bunnies, one of which involved the animus from Assassins Creed, one of which involved FFX. Within the context of those bunnies, the Jedi speaking is Obi-Wan, but feel free to assign it to any Jedi you choose. Purely monologue.

“The Order has served the Republic almost before there _was_ a Republic. For over five thousand years we have poured out our blood and lives like water into desert sand for the Republic. We dedicate our lives to serving the Republic, to receive nothing in return. To be told time and again that it is not enough. We are not good enough. If we had been better the fighting would have stopped before their kin died. It is no wonder that after four thousand years, when the Sith Empire attacked, and still we received grievances in place of gratitude for the lives we lost that some of our number turned to Sith teachings. 

"It is the way of the Force, to love deeply.

"Some decry our taking of children, babes in arms, from their parents to raise them to sacrifice themselves on the altar of the Galaxy. What they do not recall is that there was a time it was the only way to be sure those children would live to adulthood. The Force is all around us, and those of us who touch and use it with as much thought as breathing have often been slain as demon spawn in primitive cultures. That is when the role of Seeker was so critical, when only the best fighters were allowed to Seek, for they were the first line of defense for the Order. They often would have whole groups of Younglings with them, and it is from that practice that there are Clans in the Creche.

"This, too, is held a crime against us.

"A thousand years ago, after the defeat of the Sith Empire, we fought our own who had Fallen into the Sith teachings, in what is known as the Jedi Civil War. The Republic saw lightsabers raised against each other, and called us all Jedi regardless of the color of our blades. There are worlds today where a lightsaber is looked at with suspicion due to battles then.

"There are probably more, now.

"Amidst all of our loss, all that we willingly gave up, there was nothing for us. We have our Temple, but we built the foundations ourselves, on the bones and blood of our dead from where we made our stand and would not be moved.

"They begrudged us even the land to build a haven.

"I know this as surely as I know the weight of a slave collar.

"The years flowed, with conflicts arising and Jedi soothing. There have been wars all over the Republic and the Galaxy that Jedi have fought in, but nothing on the scale of the War of the Star Forge. Not until now.

"When we have _finally_ been given something in return.

"The Clones are _ours,_ ours to fight beside, to defend, to die and live for. The antics of our young Padawans, still learning the ways of the Force and not yet aware of how frightening we are, are met with a wry shrug. It is just strange Jedi things. A Jedi’s ability in battle is not a source of fear, or a useful tool, but a matter of course. They _trust_ that we will have control enough not to hurt them. And they in turn fight to _protect_ us. We who have so long given everything we had, everything we were, to an uncaring populace, finally we have more then one or two individuals who return our care. We fight for them, for their lives in the field, and we fight for their right to _choose_ in the Senate.”

A clatter of metal against stone and rumbling growl.

“We do not fair well in that fight. If ever we make progress, there is a yet another surge in the tides of war that demand our full attention and by the time we may return our work is undone. When I find the traitor who seeks to enslave Our Own…”

A scrape against stone and a snap of teeth.

“A Jedi that does not appreciate his men is blind, ignorant, and contemptible. A Jedi who attacks his men is beneath contempt and should be put down like the rabid beast he is. The Clones are our _gift,_ and should be treasured as such.”


	3. Hard to Light a Candle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin stumbles on old vids of Obi-Wan as an Initiate. He finds himself charmed by the clumsy child, and watches his Master grow. But as he notices the date stamps creeping closer and closer to the critical age he begins to wonder. Where is Qui-Gon, to turn the clumsy, temperamental child into the solemn man he met on Tatooine?

“Son of a Hutt,” Anakin hissed as the data reader in his hands spat out sparks that stung his flesh hand and landed on the exposed wires of his bionic hand. The fingers clenched at the sudden surge and he cursed again as his fingers punctured the screen. A warm huff of laughter was the only warning he had before an older model landed in his lap.

“Try using that one, it’s one meant to be around some of the youngest Initiates, it’ll probably be a bit more resilient,” Obi-Wan said warmly, his eyes crinkled with an open happiness that Anakin would have appreciated more if he didn’t suspect his former Master of laughing at him.

“Kriff chemical inhibitors,” was his only reply, internally wincing at how sulky he sounded. “I thought they were supposed to wear off _fast_.”

The look in the other man’s eyes softened. “We all react differently. And even chemical inhibitors can have interactions. We are only fortunate that the only major side effect is a bit of fuzzy control.” His eyes darkened abruptly before he shook off whatever memory had struck him.

Anakin hunched his shoulders and pretended to be absorbed in poking the data reader. He didn’t like knowing that he had cut short what little happiness his former Master found during this damn war. He stared down at his hands, and noticed something he _had_ to comment on.

“Master, this is old.”

“My dear Padawan, how can you tell?” There was a fresh grin lurking in the other man’s voice.

“It has _knobs_ ,” Anakin deadpanned, making Obi-Wan chuckle.

“I said much the same when Master Tahl presented it to me.”

Anakin cocked his head slightly at the wistful tone. “I don’t think I’ve ever met him. What’s his command?” If he could find another friend for the man…

“She died, oh, twenty or so years ago.”

“Oh,” he said quietly. “Why did she give you this anyway?”

“That, Padawan mine, will have to be a story for another day. I have another strategy meeting in an hour, I just thought I’d stop by and drop this off for you.”

“Far be it for me to keep the High General from his command then,” Anakin smirked, ducking the swat the other man aimed at him.

______————-

Anakin curiously twisted a few knobs on the data reader. He wasn’t even sure he knew how to turn the antiquated device _on_ much less find information. As always when a new piece of tech was placed in his hands, he couldn’t resist fiddling with it however. A bright grin crossed his face when his tentative tapping and twisting brought the power on. That was easy enough, should be a cinch.

Fifteen minutes later, a scowl firmly rooted on his face, Anakin regretted that optimistic thought. He had been trying to access the Holonet. He was pretty certain he’d accidentally wandered into the Security Archive, which was just bizarre. Only a Councilor was supposed to be able to access those. Force knew Anakin had tried often enough to do so from his own reader.

____——  
Glancing at the dates listed on the files, he carefully twisted the knob and selected one at random. He growled as it slipped past the date he was aiming for and hit an older one. He was about to try again when his gaze skidded back to one of the Initiates. It was a young human boy, Anakin estimated between eleven and thirteen, sticking his tongue out at a Mon Calamari, but his face was familiar somehow. A grin spread across his face as recognition took hold. A once in a lifetime opportunity to see his serious Master as a silly Initiate? Oh, he _had_ to take advantage of that!

He tapped a few commands onto the keyboard, and stopped for a moment. He wanted to see all of the silly antics a Youngling in the Temple would get up to, but when had his Master been brought into the Temple? Typically the age was between four and seven, with allowance for each species growth and maturity rates. Well, he _was_ in the Archives, he could just see if he could focus on notable incidents.

\----___

Anakin stifled a grin as he saw a tiny Obi-Wan literally pounce on another youngling, only to send them both splashing into a fountain. He could hardly believe how small a four year old Obi-Wan was! His hands were so tiny... Anakin frowned as he spotted the datestamp on the corner of the screen. That couldn't be right! The year on this would make Obi-Wan two or three.

_Well, I did know he grew up in the Order,_ Anakin reasoned. _I just never knew how little he'd seen outside of it as a kid._ Somehow, it had never really occurred to him to wonder when and how Obi-Wan had come to be placed at the Temple. Still, that just meant more footage of Obi-Wan as a youngling.

\---_____

Obi-Wan was a weed as a child, Anakin discovered as he carefully skipped through videos. An _angry_ weed, he concluded as he stopped at one that showed young Obi-Wan in a fist fight with a familiar blonde Initiate. Familiar, because Obi-Wan was often shown fighting with him. Anakin frowned lightly as he paused a video, watching the child version of his Master stumble on the stairs while ushering a smaller child ahead of him. Even accounting for growing limbs and inexperience, that wasn't right. If Obi-Wan had truly tripped by himself, he wouldn't have fallen the way he had.

The same blonde Initiate swaggered into view, and from body language alone Anakin could see what had happened. He'd seen the same swagger in free born children tormenting slaves who knew better then to fight back. Obi-Wan, probably eight by the stamp, scowled darkly and stood up, favoring one side. He snapped something that caused the other child to stiffen, before turning and limping away.

\---____

Anakin bit his lip to keep from laughing as he watched a serious faced Obi-Wan gesture along to the lecture an older Jedi was giving. This was obviously a very familiar lecture. Anakin snickered as the lecturer turned around sharply, only to confronted with an innocently smiling auburn haired imp. Oh, he couldn't wait to bring _that_ up the next time his Master got on him about respectful attention to reprimands!

\---_____

_No wonder he always knows where I get things from the workshops,_ Anakin thought as a grease covered Obi-Wan grinned up at a young Quinlan Vos from a scatter of mechanical parts that had been one of the small flying droid. It had been put together enough that Anakin recognized it as one of the banes of all Initiates, one that shot stinging lights to teach them to trust in the Force to dodge or deflect.

\----___

Anakin frowned at the date on the screen. Obi-Wan had turned ten that year, and Qui-Gon had yet to show up in any of the vids. He knew that nine or species equivalent was about the age that Padawans started being picked out. Most Masters in peacetime, Obi-Wan had stressed, started observing Initiates around that age so as to have a better feel for potential matches. And he'd definitely seen an uptick in the number of Jedi who were the Masters of Obi-Wan's contemporaries in the videos. Still, there was time. It wasn't as if there was a war after all, maybe Qui-Gon just didn't feel any urgency to pick yet. Just because Anakin had been chosen to be Qui-Gon's Padawan when he was nine, didn't mean that Obi-Wan had. After all, it wasn't like Obi-Wan had been in danger of being sold off or killed at any moment.

_But you'd think he'd try and make sure he got the best. I'm sure there were a lot of Masters who wanted Obi-Wan,_ a small voice whispered in the back of Anakin's mind. _Look at all the potential in him!_

Even allowing for knowing how much of an amazing Jedi Obi-Wan was now, Anakin was sure that the potential he saw was obvious to all the Masters and Knights. Sure he still fought with the blond, but Anakin had seen enough footage by now to guess that Obi-Wan only started about one in five of _those_ fights, and had stopped ever being the one to turn them physical.

\--____

Anakin bit his lip. Qui-Gon was finally in the videos, but even knowing that he'd take Obi-Wan as his student, Anakin couldn't tell that Qui-Gon was watching Obi-Wan. If he didn't know better, he'd say that Qui-Gon was ignoring all of the Initiates. There was cold air about him whenever any of the youngling dared to approach him that Anakin felt even through a video screen and over twenty years. Maybe, maybe he was trying to test Obi-Wan's persistence?

The blond was getting sneakier and more vicious in his bullying.

\--__

Even as Obi-Wan grinned as he and Bant Eerin played with some much younger Initiates, Anakin frowned. Qui-Gon was cutting things close to the deadline. Obi-Wan was twelve already, and still Qui-Gon had given no sign of his choice of Padawan.

_He must be on a long mission. That's the only explanation,_ Anakin comforted himself. _He'll be back in time to take Obi-Wan, you know he is._

Still, that was a very thoughtless thing to do to a kid. A horrible thought occurred to him as he watched an unfamiliar Noorian Jedi thoughtfully watched the group. What if Obi-Wan was an Orphaned Padawan? They'd happened even in peace time, and depending on age they were either taken in by others in the same Teaching Line, taken into another Teaching Line, or left to finish their studies on their own. There were several Orphans in his age group, and he knew that there were a lot more now. Maybe, maybe that's when Obi-Wan had met the Master Tahl?

But, no. No, Anakin had taken a look at the records for their Teaching Line when the war started. Just to see if Dooku had been lying about teaching Qui-Gon. There were special notes made when an Orphan Padawan was brought into a line. It was a way of making sure Lines didn't just end. Obi-Wan hadn't had any other Master. So, where was Qui-Gon?

-_

Anakin watched with glee as his Master trounced the blond who'd been such a thorn. He was never going to let Obi-Wan lecture him about how aggressively he fought ever again! He grinned even harder when he watched Obi-Wan walk up to the watching Qui-Gon. He was sure this was the moment that he'd been waiting for. And it was a close call, there were only a few months left until... Anakin felt his good cheer die as Qui-Gon failed to show pride or even approval for the duel. In fact, he was radiating disapproval.

The two on the screen shared a short exchange before Obi-Wan's shoulders slumped, his head bowed, and he walked heavily away. Anakin whitened in shock as Qui-Gon failed to call him back.

The next video showed Obi-Wan, dressed in the style of the Service Corps, with a small bag on his shoulder and a Corps 'saber on his hip, walking out to a waiting freighter. There was an air of determined steadiness about him, struggling with what looked like, what had to _be,_ soul-crushing grief as he walked away from the only home he remembered and the dreams that he couldn't know would still be.

"But," Anakin whispered as the reader fell from his nerveless fingers. "Qui-Gon taught him. I _know_ he did. What happened?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was an excuse to have Anakin watch lots of videos of smol!Obi-Wan. There is no sound to the videos, so he has no idea what was being said in them. A lot of the time, sufficiently older operating systems can bypass state of the art things because they are so old that there are no longer defenses against them. That's what happened with Anakin and how he wandered into secure Archives by mistake.
> 
> I couldn't find a definitive age for entry into the Order, so I picked a typical range of 'already potty trained and can be reasoned with' and 'can use reasoning and still young enough to adapt.' This range also allows for Qui-Gon to bring in Xanatos, who was old enough to not only remember and love his family and home planet, but also to have his lifelong philosophy of always having an escape route in place. (I head canon that this was due to being raised as the son of a planetary governor, and having been taught self-defense starting very young. At that age it was more escape and evasion until rescue.)
> 
> On Teaching Lines and adoption, I kind of head canon that Ahsoka was picked to be a Padawan by another Master first, only to have xir die before being able to make it back to the Temple and claim her because War is Hell. Thus why Ahsoka is fourteen when she's made Anakin's Padawan. Yes, I'm implying that sometimes an Orphan Padawan can be left alone to become a Knight. It doesn't happen often, think of it as a form of teenage emancipation. They have to be able to prove they can do it on their own, but it's assumed that their Teaching Line will help them and look out for them. This is also a way around the Jedi's own form of the Rule of Two, because an emancipated Padawan can be taken on missions by a Master/Padawan pair. If a Teaching Line is unable or unwilling to step up and a Padawan is/does not want to be emancipated, then they can be brought into another Teaching Line. An example of this is Bant, who was Orphaned when Tahl died but finished training under Kit Fisto.
> 
> On the Jedi Service Corps, I refuse to believe that the Corps would put up with dressing in children's clothing even if it was cut for adults. They have a different uniform from the Initiates, and there are special marks and styles on the Corps uniforms for children joining them. And not all Initiates want to be Knights! Some of them just want to dig in the dirt, or bury themselves in the guts of machinery, or cook like a friggin' Master Chef take your shenanigans out of my kitchen you heathens. Given that Obi-Wan, when he was being sent to Bandomeer, was not assigned an escort to take him there (though that may have been because Qui-Gon was serving in that capacity due to his mission taking him to the same location) and the trip was through a place known for pirate activity, Corps children going to duty assignments past a certain distance are given full-fledged blades and expected to use them to defend self and others without hurting anyone they don't mean to. Thus why an Initiate with such obvious 'saber skills and a known interest in mechanics and flying was sent to the Agri-Corps instead of the Mech-Corps. There was no other Initiate slated for Agri that could be trusted not to lop off a limb available at the time, and Obi-Wan would have been moved to the Mech-Corps after he hit thirteen in two months.
> 
> And yes, Obi-Wan was two months shy of the Knight deadline of thirteen when he was sent to the Corps. This is because Bruck Chun, the blond referenced as always fighting with Obi-Wan, made it look like Obi-Wan had kicked the snot out of him. After fighting a duel that Obi-Wan won through an aggressive assault, Qui-Gon tells the youngster that he's too dangerous and impulsive to train.
> 
> ...Let us all appreciate the irony.


End file.
